John 21:1-3

Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee.This is how it happened.

Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin),

Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.

Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”

“We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.

After the day of resurrection, life went on for the disciples. Jesus had now appeared to all of them at least once. They had heard Him speak, watched Him eat, and seen the scars that He had shown them. In today's Scripture, many of them have gone off to work again. Seemingly, the terror and fear that they had about being crucified had all but fled them. There appears to be no reason to hide anymore, as these seven disciples are in plain sight. Present at this gathering are Peter, James, John, Nathanael, Thomas, and two other un-named disciples. The fact that they are not mentioned by name, seems to be significant. John lists the other five by name and in detail as to who they are. Peter, James, and John are fishermen by trade. When Jesus called them to be disciples, they were all fishing. The Bible has made sure that we know exactly who Thomas was! Who is this fifth named disciple? We believe he has two names. In the gospel of John, he is referred to as Nathanael. In Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts, he appears to go by the name of Bartholomew. In any case, he is obviously a friend of Philip and at first, a large skeptic of Jesus being the Messiah, having come from Nazareth. When Jesus seems to have "supernatural knowledge" of Nathanael, having never met him, Nathanael believes and proclaims Jesus as the Messiah. Why am I going into all this detail about these five men? I believe there is a message in John's gospel for all of us today. All five of the disciples mentioned have all worked through their doubt, on many different levels, and stand for Jesus. None of them have been perfect. One of them denied Jesus three times. Another one insisted on proof that Jesus had truly risen. Still another had great difficulty believing that Jesus was his Messiah, strictly because he came from Nazareth. Do these guys sound like anyone you know? There is good news for all of us "misfits!" Regardless of our sin and doubt, Jesus is always in our midst. All we have to do is call on Him. Tomorrow, we will examine the miracle that Jesus does in their presence, but for now, let's rejoice in the fact that they conquered their fear and went back to work. Fishing was an important occupation of the day. Whatever you do for God, every day, is also important. Don't look down. Look up and expect Jesus to show up! If you do, He always will!!!